Characterisation of SARS-CoV-2 in saliva of healthcare workers in high-risk settings

Target To determine the frequency and characteristics of asymptomatic carriers of SARS-CoV-2 virus among healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients. To determine how often COVID-19 occurs in healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients. To determine the time to detect SARS-CoV-2 virus in healthcare workers before symptoms appear. To determine whether there is transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from healthcare workers (asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic) to contacts in the community. To demonstrate the usefulness of filter paper collection of saliva as a surveillance tool for SARS-CoV-2 virus infection. To conduct molecular epidemiological studies on the diversity and evolution of SARS-CoV-2 virus in asymptomatic and symptomatic infections among healthcare workers. - Importance Understanding the risk of asymptomatic carrier and transmission of the virus to and by healthcare professionals will enable the design of interventions to reduce this risk. The development of a non-cold chain sampling method will enable enhanced surveillance in terms of diagnostics and follow-up at the population level. - Main target Early viral identification and assessment of the incidence of symptomatic and asymptomatic viral infections among healthcare workers. Assess the risk of transmission to the community from asymptomatic healthcare workers. Evaluation of saliva sampling on filter paper for the diagnosis and sequence characterization of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Sequence and epidemiological analysis of transmission from infected patients to healthcare workers (in combination with data collected from other studies). -